“Quicker, Two! If the prey has time to flee, you’re moving too slow! One, pay attention to your surroundings! If you get bitten by a rabbit, you can kiss today’s food goodbye!”
Peacock heard Viseral, whom Nex had dubbed ‘One’, growl across the room full of rabbits. Peacock tried to ignore him and homed in on a target. The start of their training so far wasn’t as bad as he’d worried about. Nex was hurling plenty of threats, and Peacock believed every one, but the actual exercises were what he’d expected from Oncian and Cavua.
He closed in on the fleeing rabbit. Red blood stained its white fur from the bite Peacock had inflicted on it during his first attack. His prey lurched left. Peacock stretched and lunged, but the smooth rock floor of the training room proved too much. His hind legs whipped out from under him. He hit belly-first against the stone with an oomph as rabbits scattered in every direction.
“Two, speed means nothing if you can’t keep on your feet!”
Peacock hissed quietly. No kidding. He scrambled up on all fours and swept the room for his target. The room was easily twenty times larger than him, and like the cage room, made entirely of slick stone. It was also bare all over. No stalagmites or stalactites broke the glassy surface. Instead, fluffy bunnies with the words ‘Level 3’ floating in rounded black font above their heads milled about. Peacock had no idea how the mobs had got into the room, nor why they avoided the three tunnels leading out. Perhaps it had to do with their AI. The same AI that was making Peacock look like an idiot, and considering what had happened to Oncian, Cavua, and Arianrhod, could get him killed.
His heartbeat quickened. Damn it. I can’t find it. Nex said he and Viseral had to kill fifty rabbits each and finish off each one they attacked before the end of the day, or they’d be punished. Peacock didn’t want to find out what that meant.
Where’s the damn rabbit? Wait!
The mass of white fluff parted for just a second, a single drop of blood shimmering in the vacant space. Peacock focused on it. If he could see where the next drop was, or somehow tell which way it went by this one, he’d be fine. He squinted, studying the shape of the blood drop and sniffing it. Come on, come on!
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ABILITY UNLOCKED: TRACKING
Information popped into his mind as the blood glowed.
Level 3 White Rabbit. 24% health remaining. Weaknesses unknown. Strengths unknown. Fled northwest approximately thirty feet. Peacock grinned. Gotcha.
He stuck his nose to the ground. The smell was vague, like a whiff of a barnyard and really different from the smell permeating the room. Still, Peacock knew it was his prey. He moved forward through the mass of mobs, careful not to lose the trail. Sure enough, one drop of blood led to another, and another. Once within ten feet, he stopped. There in front of him stood a bloodied rabbit on high alert with its back turned.
Peacock flattened against the ground and inched forward. The mobs weren’t tall grass, but they were as close as he could get. Closer, closer. Alarm bells went off inside his mind. Only a single rabbit stood between him and his prey. He struck with neck out, mouth open and snapped the mob’s neck. It shimmered and vanished, leaving a crimson imprint and a rabbit’s foot.
“Excellent work, Two.” Nex’s voice rebounded off the room walls. “Or it would be, if it didn’t take you ten minutes to take out a bunny. Move faster.”
What the hell does he expect? I barely know how anything works. Peacock glanced over his shoulder at Nex, who stood towering over them, spikes bristled and scowling. A shiver ran down his spine. Unlikely that he cares, though. Nex confirmed Peacock’s suspicions when he locked eyes and bared his teeth. Peacock braced for another verbal attack.
“Ah, shit!” Viseral yelled from the other side of the room. His outburst drew Nex’s ire in a flash.
Peacock ducked down, breathing a sigh of relief. That was close. Another White Rabbit hopped onto the remains of its comrade, its passive AI not responding to the acts of players unless they touched or attacked the mob directly. Too bad for it, Peacock still had a large quota to fill. He lashed out, same as he’d done with the last, and bit down on the newcomer’s neck. With a crunch and a squeal, it disappeared.
A piece of meat and fur appeared over its bloodstain. Peacock frowned and picked the items up. He’d been looking forward to combat training before but being forced to do so in a room full of trapped mobs was a far cry from what he had imagined.
An image of Cavua as a dragon’s bladed tail came down on her head flashed through his mind. Peacock shoved it away, refusing to acknowledge the raw pain in his core as the beeping of phantom machines sounded at the edge of his awareness. He had to focus. He had to live. Another bunny passed in front of him. At least these are just mobs.